Jareth's Nightmare
by Honour Huston
Summary: Sara has had always been his obsession.  Now, he is trapped in a dream that he cannot escape.  But as events unfurl, if given the chance, he may not want to leave, lest he lose her forever. JS of course


I do not own anything. All rights to Lucas and Henson and Bowie.

I hope you all enjoy. Watch for characters from a 90's tv show. I will give an internet cookie to who ever can guess where this Puck came from. Cheers!

"You had another fight with that human girl didn't you?" Jareth didn't have to turn around to know who was behind him. Puck: that damnable imp. "You are wearing the last shred of my patience, changeling. Leave me before I toss you into the Bog of Eternal Stench." Jareth's voice was strained with fatigue and impatience. He pinched the bridge of his nose with gloved fingers. Puck floated towards him like a deranged butterfly. He leaned over Jareth's shoulder, a mass of silver hair and sharp blue eyes sparkling with mischief. "Why do you torture yourself, cousin? She is a mere human, nothing special." Puck queried, his lyrical voice laced with malicious venom. Jareth growled at the changeling's audacity. "You dreadful pixie, must you pester me like this? Your master Oberon should keep you on a shorter leash." He lurched out of his chair with an unnatural feline grace and began to pace his large empty throne room. Puck watched amused as the Goblin King stalked his throne room blessedly absent of goblins. They had learned even with their feeble pea-sized brains that their Liege was not in a sporting mood after a visit to the Human.

As Jareth seethed, his thoughts went back to earlier that evening. Time flows differently for the Fae, and the four years that had passed in the human world had made Sara more beautiful and infuriating than ever. Her love of fairy tales and belief in magic intrigued him and he had watched her for months before she said the Words. She had potential, Sara, and he created the right circumstances that would cause Sara to wish her brother away. It was a chance to teach her a lesson and perhaps acquire a queen for his kingdom. She had drained him of his power and it had taken him months to recover. At first he thought that it was the bruising of his ego and the draining of his powers that perturbed him enough to stalk the girl in the mortal world.

He had not meant to follow her through her mortal life. It had begun as a curiosity; how had this naïve foolish little girl solve his Labyrinth? He had first thought about her friends the beast, the dog, and that wretched dwarf Hedgwort. But there had to be something innate about the girl that allowed her to overcome all that he threw at her. Her tenacity had irritated him and in a last ditch effort to divert her from her quest he created the peach and delved into her deepest fantasy so that she would forget her brother and remain in the dream forever. He had not been sure what he would do with her after that, but after dancing with her in the enchanted crystal, he feared that he was becoming too attached to her. It had not been planned and it shook him to the core even as it happened. He could feel her slight frame in his arms, her brown eyes glazed over with magic. He sang to her, weaving a web of seduction that would bind her to him forever. He actually did enjoy seducing her, seeing the woman-child on the cusp of turning into the spirited self-assured woman that she would become.

He had been sloppy, and now he was paying the price; his kingdom was suffering because of that bloody child. "So what is it about this mortal that enthralls you so, my Lord? Is it her beauty? Her wit? Her charm? Or…." He giggled wickedly and made a crude gesture with his slight fey fingers. Jareth spun on a booted heel, his hollow-cheeked distinctly fey features distorted in rage at the caustic tongue of this fairy. Even for a member of the Third Race, Puck was the most meddlesome of creatures not many of their own kind could stand him for long. He strode over and thrust a black gloved finger into the fairy's face. "How dare you imply such things. You know nothing, Puck! You will not speak about her in that way." He curled his fingers into claws and thrust them into Puck's face.

Puck leaped back, clearly shaken at Jareth's startling reaction. He bowed low, his slight frame quavering. "M-my apologies, my Lord, I spoke out of turn. But I am not the only one who questions your motives. Even my master has commented on it." He straightened and smoothed his long white hair over pointed ears. "Perhaps it is because she solved your Labyrinth then? Is that what intrigues you?" Jareth was impassive, his mismatched eyes glowering, save for a slight tick in his jaw. Puck smiled wickedly, "Ah so that is the case then." He folded his arms and levitated higher in the air. "So why visit her years after she rejected you? Could it be that you have feelings for her?" he arched a delicate eyebrow.

Jareth hissed and slumped back to his throne and picked up his favorite riding crop, it was perfect for beating goblins with. "So you have found me out Puck. What now? Will you go to the master and relay what you have heard here? Will he then go to the Elders and demand that I step down as King?" Jareth sneered.

Puck swooped down and faced the king, "I am many things, my Lord, but I am not a spy. I had some time on my hands and decided to come and have a chat." Jareth groaned, he seemed to be having all the luck recently. "Go bother someone else, Puck. I have no time for your games." Ignoring the command, Puck bowed his head to Jareth. "A spy I may not be, M'lord, but take heed that if this continues, Oberon might take an interest in the girl." Jareth's spiky haired head snapped up, eyes blazing. "He wouldn't dare," he hissed, "He decreed himself that being involved with human affairs was taboo. Just what happened with Tatiana is proof enough." Puck shrugged, "Step cautiously, that is all I will say." He then slapped his hands and rubbed them together, "Well I shall be off, things to do, havoc to raise." He turned to go then stopped. "Oh, I almost forgot." He came back in front of Jareth. "Lady Tatiana bayed me to tell you this," he leaned in to Jareth and the King leaned in as well, against his better judgemet.

"Happy Birthday."

Puck cackled maniacally and raised his hand palm up fingers spread and light shot from his fingertips engulfing Jareth in light and sound. Jareth raised his arms and closed his eyes, protecting his face from the incoming attack. The air went whooshing around him, ruffling his clothes and blowing his stark blond hair away from his face and neck. Then there was silence. He cautiously lowered his arms, his sharp, mismatched eyes alert ready to strike out at any assailant. He looked around and discovered that he was standing in a meadow. The Goblin King, Lord of the Underground, was standing in a meadow; a bloody meadow with flowers and butterflies. He arched a delicately curved eyebrow and his sensuous lips curved into a sneer. He was not amused. The sun beat down on him he could feel it seeping into his skin, he had a sudden urge to raise his face to it and drink it in, lifting his arms to welcome its radiating warmth. He quickly suppressed that childish urge.

The air felt heavy, thick and it was hard for him to breathe. He blinked rapidly; the pollen from the heady flowers filled the air around him making his eyes water. Through the mist of sun and particles, Jareth could have sworn that he heard and impish giggle from somewhere close by. The Goblin King swung around, the jagged strands of hair whipping against his lean cheeks. He saw that there was nothing there. Scowling, he looked around again, and yet again heard the giggle, now from the other direction. The damnable heavy air was making a fool of his keen senses; living with pesky goblins for a thousand years had made him aware of their tricks and nothing had surprised him in almost a millennia. Almost.

His mind shifted back to Sara, that spirited girl-child who had turned his whole world upside down. At the thought of Sara, Jareth once again heard that elfin giggle and then, in anther direction, a lilting feminine voice. He could not decipher her words, but it was a call to someone out there. He looked around and the voice called again. Exasperated, Jareth strode forward, determined to discover where he was and how he was going to return to his throne room and throttle that good for nothing Puck and drown him in the Bog of Eternal Stench for the next hundred years. Jareth grinned savagely at the thought and trudged through the flowers. He heard the female voice again, this time more discernable. "Hoooope…" he whipped around again, his patience all but gone.

He growled deep in his throat, ready to unleash holy hell upon the elusive creature that had been taunting him. When he turned around, the growl died in his throat. Through the misty haze he saw a petite woman sitting under a tree, her dark hair in a long braid down her back and a wreath of flowers and ribbons on the top of her head. The wind blew around her, wisps of dark hair whipped into her face and she raised a hand to draw them away. She laughed and titled her head up to bask in the sun. Jareth swallowed hard. Sara. Sara as she is now, a full grown woman, not the child he had known. She sat on a blanket with a full picnic meal with three settings laid out laid out in front of her. She straightened and raised a hand to her mouth and called, "Hooope." She was looking straight at him, her dark eyes brimming with laughter and something else, something that he dared not name. She smiled and stood up brushing out her long white gown, similar to her play dress she wore as a young girl, but now she filled it out in all the right places, which made him swallow hard. She moved forward and bent down with her arms open.

He was completely flummoxed at her odd behavior which gave him the moment to pause. That confused awkward moment allowed him to hear that incessant giggle again. He then realized that Sara had not been looking at him, rather _behind_ him. He felt a whoosh go by and a dark-haired child, of about four years of age, with flowers in her cubby hand and in her dark hair come crashing towards the young woman who had her arms flung out to catch her. Woman and child collided, falling back into a pile of silk flowers and laughter. The child's shrilly laugh and Sara's gentle chuckle made his heart ache. No one had ever laughed for him like that. He had always been the one on the sidelines watching others make merry.

The two girls sat up, with Sara wiping dirt from the child's cheek. The child played with the flowers in her hand, waving them around like batons. It was then that Sara truly looked up at him and their eyes met. The warmth in them directed at him threw his equilibrium out of balance and he almost fell into the swell of flowers around him. Sara's brow furrowed, her dark eyes shadowed with worry. The child looked up and then over at him. When she locked eyes with the King, every breath he had was suddenly taken away, his body tingled in awareness. The child was slight, with dark, curly hair and fair skin. She had her mother's nose, he realized, ruefully, and her features all around. But her eyes….her eyes were the same mismatched blue and green as his. A fist clenched around his heart and his palms were sweaty in their leather gloves. Suddenly very weary, the King sank to his knees, unable to absorb what he was seeing.

Sara whispered to the child, never taking her eyes off of Jareth. The child nodded and rose, wading through the high grass and flowers to reach his side. She stood in front of him and he looked up at her. She wore a simple shift gown with a pink sash and plenty of grass stains and muddy paw prints. She was cherubic and impish all at once. Her eyes twinkled as mischievously as Puck's yet held Sara's kindness and brazenness. "I picked these for you Papa. Aren't they pretty?" The child lilting voice rang in his ears as she offered him the mangled blooms in her small hand. He just stared at the flowers, too stunned to speak. What had Puck done? This had to be a dream, a horrible wretched dream. "Papa? Do you like them?" the child asked again, her voice quavering with emotion. He saw the trepidation in her eyes, the fear of rejection. An emotion he knew all too well as a child. He was the Goblin King, and he bloody well should start acting like it, not a swooning elf. He looked the girl straight in the eye and smiled a lazy grin; his smooth voice pure velvet venom. "They are lovely, my dear. The only thing lovelier is you." He noticed Sara had risen and come to join them. He was wrong, he could think of another more lovely. Sara's smile was a bit sardonic as the child whooped and flung herself into his arms. He gasped as she barreled into him, strangling him with tiny arms around his neck.

He managed to get up still holding the girl and faced Sara. She was as he last saw her, older, wiser, more beautiful than ever. The only thing that differed was the expression on her face. He had been careless and had allowed her to catch more than a glimpse of him in the crowded courtyard of the university. She had been pale and shaking, a mix of horror and disbelief on her face. Now, in front of him, she was smiling, at him, with…adoration in her eyes. A dog barked in the distance and a clipped voice shrilly gave a command and a low moaning voice answered. Sara came up to him and slipped an arm through his. "Shall we get along home?" she asked Jareth and the child. The girl began to protest, yet half way through she yawned and nuzzled against his shoulder. Jareth adjusted the girl in his arms and shifted so that they both were more comfortable. In the distance he saw the beast, the dwarf and the dog waiting on top of the hill. Sara started forward, bringing him along by the arm. "Is everything all right? You seem a bit off all of a sudden. It's as if you're a different person than the one that began playing chase me find me with Hope." Sara said as they picked their way towards the hill.

"Hmm?" was all Jareth could muster, his mind reeling. She looked at him oddly then adjusted Hope's dress with her free hand. They walked in silence the rest of the way. They made it up to the hill where Ludo, Didamyus, and Hoggle waited. They all bowed to the three as they appeared, and then began their descent towards the Goblin Castle beyond the Goblin City. Jareth used this quiet reflective time to gather his wits. This was not right; it had to be a dream. An enticing, horrible dream. He would play along, of course, and see what was to do. Then he would break free and return to the real world of the Underground and kill that interminable creature Puck, Oberon or no Oberon. Jareth smirked viciously as he imagined all the things he would do to the changeling as they entered through the city doors.

Yes, if Puck wanted to play, then he should know who he was dealing with. And using these two as pieces in that game would cost him dearly. Jareth was not sure of a lot of things at that moment, except that Puck was going wish he had never crossed the Goblin King.

Well? What do you think so far? Review if you please. 


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